Pilgrimage to Kerouac's Grave

It was a long time coming in making my pilgrimage to Jack Kerouac's grave in Lowell, MA.

Picture here of Dylan and Ginsburg at Jack's grave in 1975.

Kerouac was a huge influence on Dylan, like many others his life was changed forever by On the Road.

What has changed at the grave? Well what was once a almost a hidden grave, now there is a monument to Jack which is behind me.

But I will be honest, don't think Jack would like this monument, even the font used for Jack's name, don't think he would approve, but what do I know.

All I know is the energy was with the non descript grave that Dylan visited, though I did leave a Guinness for Jack at the monument. 

More to say on Kerouac, he changed the trajectory of my life, through his writing I just wanted to live life as fully as possible, experience all I could, go down roads whose destinations were uncertain and anything could happen. 

And I love long drive's through the American night, I feel Kerouac, Cassady is at the wheel, Burroughs is muttering in the back about language being a virus, occasionally taking shots at things out the car window with a shotgun, Ginsburg sometimes comes reciting spontaneous poetry, so it is a wild car ride roaring down the highway of life. 

I want to say more. When I meet the younger generations they generally have zero knowledge of the Beat generation, even Dylan, maybe heard of him, hard time remembering any name of a song.

This I guess is called getting older.

But I feel a real loss for those who never tasted the freedom and space opened up by the Beats in the cookie cutter conformist post world war 2 America. 

But it all dissolves into emptiness regardless, nothing to hold onto. 

But if you have never read On the Road or the Dharma Bums by Kerouac, really you should.

Just my humble opinion. But it might just change your life.